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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Am I Crazy? Don't Answer That.

It's been a really long time since our last angry rant. But over the last couple of days, I've almost had rage blackouts twice so it's probably time. Let's get started with something I'm sure you've all heard of by now. This:

The geezer on the left was on a plane (and drinking heavily) when the 19 month old (on the right) began crying as the plane descended (because his ears hurt). So the old man glares at the little boy's mother and says: "Shut that [n-word] baby up".

Pause. OH YES HE DID. But it gets worse.

Because then he leaned over, right in her face, and whispered it into her ear again. Just so there were no misunderstanding. And then he slapped her baby, leaving the child with a swollen, bleeding face.

I needed to do some deep breathing when I first heard about this story. Thank goodness I wasn't there. If I had been on that plane, I would've screamed "WOOOOOLVERIIINNE!" and then dove onto that dude's back, knocking him away from the baby and his mom. I would then have applied the full force of 13 years of Buffy-watching, vampire slaying skills directly onto that man's nether regions. I'm guessing that the air marshals would then have to pull me off him (and probably tranq me). Then they'd have to pull my spork out of his neck.

What kind of person does that? What kind of person assaults a baby for crying while hissing the n-word in his mother's ear? ::shivers of rage:: You can read and watch about it here. The dude is a 60 year old executive (or he was, he lost his job) and is now facing jail time. I just can't tell you how upset this made me.

SIGH... So let's now move on to the next rage-inducing item, which has nothing to do with racist old farts.

Last weekend, my 9 year daughter had a friend over and all four kids and I were watching a movie (Zathura - which was good, by the way) on a cable channel called The Hub. The movie and the channel are clearly geared towards elementary-aged kids (and maybe younger middle schoolers), so imagine my surprise when I saw this:

You guys, my head exploded. Because it's just so bad. It's so bad that if it were a Saturday Night Live sketch - it would be hilarious. But it's not. It's real. And I had to watch it all the way through twice before it started to sink in that people were seriously trying to sell this garbage to my daughter. [Editor's note: My daughter will be getting a pair of these over my rotting corpse. -Guru]

Thank goodness the little girl visiting us is a cool kid (her name is Marianne and she is THE BEST). Because I almost lost my schmidt right in front of her. Marianne just thought it was funny when I started howling: "SAY WHHHAAAAAAT?! NO. NO. NO. Noooooooo. GIRLS! Did you see that? DID! YOU! SEE! THAT?!" and then started ranting about the degradation of our society and how girls need to be valued and taught science and how this should be some kind of joke and... I may have gone on for quite a while.

But look at these images from their website. The whole thing makes me mad and here's why.

This is NOT how we teach girls and young women to get what they want.

Girls, don't work for the things you want. No no no. Instead, put on tiny shorts and a belly shirt and go ask "Daddy" for some money.

This product is being marketing towards teens primarily (the spot is mostly shown on MTV). That's terrible.

But it's also being marketed to elementary-aged girls and that's worse.

This product is can't be good for girls or teens. A 2 inch heel? How can that be healthy for growing bodies or safe for them to wear for any extended period of time?

Injuries? Yes. Back and leg pain? Yes. And those things lead to a subsequent decline in the ability to focus on school or participate in sports or physical activities.

The product also costs $50-$65 depending on where you buy it.

And why do girls even need a 2 inch wedge? Are we teaching them that they need to be taller? So that what? They appear to be thinner? Because whatever their size or height or body type, it's wrong.

You're not good enough the way you are - buy a product to fix that.

And get a man to buy it for you, since you just want "swag". And to go shoe shopping. And to be pretty.

Oh! And I forgot to mention that all of the different patterns of the shoes have names. Take a look:

They're all called "Gimme". Are you kidding me? Because this is what we want our daughters to be like. We want them to say "GIMME" when they want something. To dress in tight clothes and go to their daddy with their hands out and say "gimme".

COME ON! I ask you?! It's the worst, right?! And ready for this?

The daddys-money.com website (the “Site”) is a service of Skechers USA, Inc. ("Skechers").

Well guess what, Skechers? I used to like your stuff! But now I think you guys are a bunch of stupids. Your daddy's money product is stupid and bad for girls and your marketing choices are GROSS.

32 comments:

Whaaaaat? All of this just blows my mind. I'm very glad that the "executive" can no longer be described as such, and I think it's time a few execs at Skechers take an extended leave of absence, as well.

OH MY GOD. Despite the fact that my children watch far too many hours of The Hub and practically memorize every infomercial, I have not yet heard of this product. So gross that it has to come from Sketchers, since I have actually spent MY OWN hard-earned money on those shoes before...well, never again. This is insane.And the guy on the plane with the baby, there are just no words, honestly.

No. Just no. If my dad had seen something like that when I was a teen he'd give the TV a glare worthy of Severus Snape and would tell me I've got a month of dish duty if I want any kind of money, and that I'm not to buy heels unless I'm willing to pay for surgery on my messed up feet later.As for the guy on the plane, well, if I were the air Marshall on that flight I'd be beating him right next to you. Or at least conveniently ignoring it, since the line to beat him would be to the back of the plane once the flood gates open.

Yes we have seen this commercial and it started problems in our house, I have an autistic daughter who "must have" EVERYTHING she sees on tv, especially shoes. Shoes are her thing, at any given time she usually has about 5 pairs of shoes (most come from goodwill, some thrift shop, or given to us). She saw this commercial and flipped wanting those shoes I had to find an appropriate way to tell her that these shoes are not an option, and that sketchers are now not allowed either. I refuse to support a company who would stoop to this level of advertising. What this commercial reminded me of is the kids on south park with the Paris Hilton episode and the stupid spoiled (bad word) video play-set. As for the geezer hitting the kid and being a racist prick... well (since there's nothing we can do now) lets just hope he goes to jail and see how well racism works for a scrawny executive...

Do you know about Beauty Redefined? It's a great research and writing about women and marketing. They are currently taking on the SI Swimsuit Edition, in which at least 1/2 the models are wearing clothes. Beauty Redefined's slogan is You Are Worth More Than Being Looked At. :) There is hope.

Oh. Mah. Gah. glorified bo-bo's for that much, but telling the girls to act and dress like a slut to get the money she needs for them. So who's her daddy? The man who helped make her, or the pimp on the corner whispering lies in her ear? Makes me want to go a little bat-crap myself!

As for me and my house, we got netflix. No commercials. No losing my schmidt over stupid ads like that. Especially ads for viagra when it's only 7:00 pm.

I wrote Skechers a nastygram this morning. Figured it was the least I could do. Then after I sat and thought about it, what they're doing is even more nefarious than what appears at first glance. Daddy's Money. They are advertising to the young daughters of divorced dads. Actually, if it weren't so Skeezy, it would be almost brilliant. Young girls. See shoes. Want shoes. Mom says absolutely no. Ask Dad. Dad can't see a heel. They make ex-wife angry, and yet make little girl so happy. Divorced Dad Guilt + Angry Ex + Happy Kid = Bingo.

I have posted this and cross posted this so many times on FB... I am still beyond horrified at Sketchers and this disgusting marketing campaign. MOMS UNITE! BOYCOTT SKETCHERS! I am a coach for Girls on the Run, and one of our lessons deals with media campaigns geared towards young girls and what they are trying to get the girls to believe/buy. Guess what ad I'll be using? I can't wait to hear my girls tear Sketchers a new one.

I was a Sketchers fan until the Bella Ballerina shoes last year... which my daughter begged and begged for until we gave in and bought the darn things. ($50 for a pair of sneakers!) And then they were so poorly made that they fell apart within literally DAYS of purchasing them. And now this. Sketchers has really gone downhill.

Just posted on both blogs (Skechers and Daddy'$ Money). I've never bought Skechers, but I can say with certainty that this household will never give them our money and we'll actively discourage our friends from buying them as well. Thanks for bringing it to our attention - you ladies rock!!

Bought my daughter some , makes me a Bad Mom ( THINK NOT ) that got me some GIMME KISSES after Mommy's Money bought them :) Very cute and fun shoes made me think of Rocky Horror picture Show with the lips. Since my child' s self worth a...nd confidence is based on more than Funky commericial , I think she will be OK. Some parents really dont put much faith in their childs intelligence if this commercial is going to outrage them.

You people are cry babies but if they were called mommys money you would cry so loud would you? Note if you dont like something just dont buy it duh btw the shoes are kid cute cry baby moms signed real mother

I've never heard of this offshoot of Skechers. Thanks for sharing that. It’s no wonder why you're upset. Where I live people tend to quickly share news about companies that engage in business practices of the type you mention. Generally, people pay more for and other fashionable items if they know that the company ascribes to the same values they do. Skechers did badly with this one.

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